BOSTON - Once upon a time, not that long ago, Victor Martinez looked like the Red Sox catcher of the future.

"He's a natural leader, and not just because he's been a catcher,'' Boston manager John Farrell said of the Detroit designated hitter, whose return to Fenway Park still attracts the attention reserved for old friends.

"Players gravitate to Victor, he grabs their respect. He never shows up a teammate, and he's hitting the (heck) out of the ball.''

Farrell was Boston's pitching coach when Martinez was the team's catcher. Now, V-Mart hits No. 5 in the Detroit order as its DH.

For all the talk about Jose Iglesias' return to face his former team, it's Martinez who openly worries the Red Sox as a player who could cause havoc in the Boston-Detroit ALCS.

In one sense, the Red Sox were right about Martinez, who was acquired during the 2009 season for the high price of future top-shelf starter Justin Masterson. Injuries took a toll and contributed to the end of his catching days.

When his contract ran out at the end of 2010, after he hit .302 with 20 homers in his only full Red Sox season, he wanted a long-term deal, and some assurance he would remain a catcher. He got neither.

Martinez signed with Detroit for four years and $50 million. It was not an astonishing price for such a proven talent, leaving many Red Sox fans fuming at the thought their team had been chintzy and shortsighted in not making a comparable bid for an elite player at such a hard-to-fill position.

His catching days ended abruptly with the emergence of Alex Avila as Detroit's best receiver. Martinez caught only 26 games in 2011, when he hit a career-high .330, then missed the entire 2012 season with a knee injury.

The Red Sox have since filled their catching spot with Jarrod Saltalamacchia, an improving receiver and hitter, but certainly not as feared as Martinez with the bat.

Whether Boston should have pursued Martinez is debatable. Their DH spot is filled by David Ortiz and, at the time, Martinez did not like the idea of playing first base full-time - though he is not even doing that now.

But the Tigers are not complaining. Even after losing him for the entire 2012 season, Detroit considers Martinez a vital element to their veteran team.

He hit .301 with 14 home runs and 83 RBIs in 159 games, of which 139 came as a DH. Martinez caught only three games this season.

Martinez is unique in one respect. The modern history of the club is filled with players who left with bitter words about their Boston experience, Carl Crawford being among the most recent.

Not Martinez. He speaks fondly of his days with the Red Sox, which helps explain the warm words reserved in the Boston clubhouse for him.

"They're a good team this year, and everybody knows that. They won 97 games,'' Martinez said.

"There was no way they were going to have back-to-back years like last year (when Boston was 69-93). You like to play against your friends, but once you cross those lines on the field, you have to forget about that.''

Martinez' catching acumen was the source of some debate during his time in Boston, which followed seven dazzling years in Cleveland. During that time, he hit .296 against Boston in the Indians' seven-game AL Championship Series defeat.

In Boston, it was not so much that Martinez was lacking defensively, but that the other Red Sox catcher was the aging but iconic Jason Varitek, who shared the starting job in late 2009 and backed up Martinez in 2010.

Martinez turns 35 in December. Whether the Red Sox were right to let him go, he remains productive and could wind up being most remembered for his years in Detroit, not Cleveland or Boston.

"It was really tough for me, not playing in 2012. It got to where I couldn't even watch the playoffs on TV, maybe just an inning or two while I was rehabbing.

"This year has been a fun year with a great group of guys. I'm happy where I'm at right now.''